Food or Fuel?

Food or fuel? The controversy arises again with the Malaysian Biodiesel Association (MBA) saying that B10 biodiesel will be mandatory starting in stages from December 10. MBA president Mr U.R. Unnithan in a Business Times report yesterday said that he had been informed by the government that B10 would be mandatory in Euro2 starting in Johore. Motorists driving modern diesel pickup trucks and diesel cars from BMW, Citroen, Kia Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Peugeot, will not violate their engine warranties if they pump Euro5 diesel where the biodiesel content will remain at seven percent which is within the engine manufacturers’ specifications. The food or fuel equation has always been there but this time it is exacerbated by the government’s removal of subsidies from palm oil for cooking. The removal of subsidised palm oil for cooking was long overdue because as all subsidised commodities go, it was abused and significant quantities of Malaysian subsidised palm oil was smuggled out to neighbouring countries. The Malaysian B10 biodiesel programme as driven by the Malaysian palm oil lobby and supported by the Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities (MPIC) is more to support palm oil prices and less by environmental considerations. Led by the MBA which is formed by 17 public listed companies such as Kuala Lumpur Kepong, Felda Global Ventures and Sarawak Oil Palms Berhad, the B10 programme was to have been a gradual introduction of palm oil methyl ester (PME) into diesel for transport and industry. Industries built or enhanced their refineries to produce palm methyl ester and there is currently almost all the plants are running below installed capacity. B5 biodiesel was introduced first in 2011 and then four years later, B7. There was hardly a ripple of concern with B7 biodiesel because this level of palm oil methyl ester concentration in mineral diesel was within engine manufacturers’ specifications. B10 biodiesel has however attracted controversy and the roll out has been delayed twice. At this level, B10 biodiesel falls out of specifications for modern diesel engines, which are characterized by high-pressure diesel injection systems and increasingly, extremely precise tolerance of piezo-electric fuel injectors. The warning signs are there for all to see. The palm oil lobby persists in saying that B10 is in compliance for modern diesel engines. If that is the case, then why aren’t the engine makers corroborating those statements? In fact, engine makers have stated clearly that they want basic and joint research to collect more data about B10 biodiesel using PME for their modern diesel engines. BMW Malaysia has supplied a BMW 520d to MPOB for testing but, it is one year since they haven’t seen the car nor been given a chance to tear down the engine and fuel pump system to examine the corrosion caused by the acidic esters in PME. There arise two disturbing question: was the car entirely fueled by B10 biodiesel during the testing? Secondly, what is the testing cycle and is it agreed with the car companies? Car companies and component vendors put their engines and fuel pump systems through gruelling tests and simulations equivalent to years of usage, millions of cycles and kilometers. Consumers buy their cars in expectation that the engine will last at least 10 years. Testing must be conducted with a robust and replicable methodology mutually agreeable to MPOB and the Malaysia Automotive Institute and the relevant car companies in Malaysia. The MPOB did many years of pioneering research on biodiesel in the days of Tan Sri Professor Augustine Ong. If the current economic situation has reduced the flagship research body’s access to research funds, why doesn’t the government enlist the help of private companies such as Neste of Finland, which has the technology to process palm oil to B10 specifications that the motor industry already accepts in Europe? In view of the current close relations to China and its No.1 status as a car market, why not also invite the famous universities there to collaborate on research to develop a B10 and B20 palm oil biodiesel acceptable to all car makers? Urban China needs clean air even more than Malaysia. The insistence of the palm oil lobby that the automotive industry help to reduce the overhang of palm oil stocks should not be pressed on at the sacrifice of motorists and yes, the environment. Smokey exhaust emissions will be the result following years of usage of an out-of-spec diesel fuel. We can observe it in the smoky exhausts of some of the grey market Mercedes-Benz 270 CDi, not to mention BMW and diesel models that were imported by AP holders. There are good points to the Malaysian government’s biodiesel programme including exemption of Euro5 diesel from the B10 structure: this allows choice for motorists. B10 for the euro2 that is on sale at all stations (as indicated by the black hose at the pump) is acceptable because old diesel engines don’t have high-pressure fuel injection systems and can use B10. The roll-out of B7 biodiesel as an industry fuel is a good step forward. The roll-out of B10 on a state-by-state basis is also good in that it gives fuel companies the time to upgrade their stations with tanks and pumps to dispense Euro5. However, in this area, the corruption and/or incompetence of local councils and authorities in permitting the fuel companies to upgrade stations is creating a bottleneck. Check out the BHP station on the westbound side of the Karak Highway. It’s been there as a completed station but which hasn’t opened for business because obviously, it is short of a permit. Motorists don’t have a problem in using B10 as biodiesel or even B20, as long as the fuel is approved by engine manufacturers and they have a choice.